Government begins issuing notices for consumer vouchers

TAKING NOTICE The Ministry of the Interior said those eligible should take the notice, their ID card and personal seal when collecting their vouchers

By Loa Iok-sin and Mo Yan-chih / STAFF REPORTERS

Staffers at local township and city district offices began putting notices about the distribution of consumer vouchers into the mailboxes of qualified recipients yesterday.

Anyone who does not get a printed notice in their mailbox by Thursday or loses it should contact their local household registration office, the Ministry of the Interior said in a statement yesterday.

“Those who are qualified to receive consumer vouchers should take their national ID cards, personal seals and the notices to designated distribution locations [next Sunday] to claim their vouchers,” the statement said.

The consumer vouchers of recipients under the age of 18 will only be handed to the parents or legal guardian of the child if they take the minor’s national ID card or household registration with them.

The ministry also advised anyone with further questions or those who need to locate their designated distribution location to visit its Web site at 3600.moi.gov.tw.

The National Police Agency yesterday said it planned to mobilize more than 15,000 officers to safeguard the consumer vouchers during transportation. Each convoy transporting vouchers from the Central Engraving and Printing plant to distribution stations would be guarded by at least eight officers, it said.

Uniformed officers as well as volunteers would also be deployed at distribution locations next Sunday to ensure the security of the voucher distribution process, it said.

Huang Lu Chin-ru (黃呂錦茹), commissioner of the Taipei City’s Civil Affairs Department, said yesterday that residents should read the notifications carefully and remember to take their ID cards and seals when they pick up their vouchers.

Recipients who are living overseas should have their family members claim the vouchers on their behalf, while the city government would offer help to abused women and children claiming their vouchers, Huang said while inspecting the issuing of notifications in Taipei’s Daan district.

Huang said the city government would not accept certificates of entrustment and would help residents who were unable to claim the vouchers, urging city residents never to give the certificates of entrustment to strangers to prevent fraud.

Those in Taipei who fail to receive their notification by Thursday should report to their local borough office, Huang said.

Every citizen will receive six vouchers with a face value of NT$500 each and three other vouchers valued at NT$200 next Sunday as part of a package of measures to boost domestic spending and prop up the nation’s economy.

Those who fail to pick up the vouchers next Sunday can collect their vouchers at selected post offices between Feb. 7 and April 30.